IGNACIO – The Ignacio High School girls basketball team got off to a slower start than usual Tuesday night at home against Mancos.
The Bobcats (13-5, 12-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) finished an undefeated league season with a resounding 58-32 win over the Bluejays after IHS led by a slim 8-6 margin after the first quarter.
Ignacio was led by Jayden Brunson, who had 11 points, with nine points off three made 3-pointers. Makayla Howell had 10 points, while Shelcie Gosney and Avaleena Nanaeto each had six. Madi Hale had nine points for Mancos.
IHS head coach Justa Whitt started with five seniors on senior night, as some came up from junior varsity to start the game. Once the Bobcats eventually got going, they couldn’t be stopped.
“It was great to see everybody get in to see how they did as a unit,” Howell said. “We got off to a slow start, but coach got on us and told us to wake up. The first half was slow from both an offensive and defensive effort, but we did much better in the second quarter.”
Ignacio’s defense came to life in the second quarter and shut down the Bluejays, as it allowed just four points in the frame while taking advantage of a plethora of turnovers. By halftime, IHS led 21-10. The half was capped off with Nanaeto’s old-fashioned three-point play, which made it 19-8 with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left.
“That wasn’t a normal start to the game considering our lineup, but I hammered on them about finishing,” Whitt said. “I was pulling them out. If they weren’t finishing, I’d take them out because we’ve got to get that done. We didn’t do it as well as we would’ve liked in the first but still improved later in the game.”
In the second half, Brunson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bobcats a comfortable 17-point lead, and that opened the floodgates. The Bluejays (2-15, 2-8 SJBL) would not get closer than 10 points.
Whitt was pleased with her team’s effort in the second half.
“We’ve been waiting for (Brunson) to step back up and get some 3s, Larissa (Gallegos), too,” Whitt said. “We’re hoping for both of them to get going again. Larissa has been working on it, too. We’re hoping she takes hold and gets back to how she was playing before her injury. In general, it was a good night for us, and it’s things like our shooting that I’m hoping will continue to improve.”
In the fourth, the Bobcats pounded the paint and got to the free-throw line 14 times and made it a 28-point game with 2:55 remaining.
Mancos was just the second team in conference to score at least 30 points against the Bobcats this season. The other was Dove Creek in December.
“Defensively, I would’ve liked to hold them a bit more than we did,” Whitt said. “But we’ve got to smile about this one; we clinched the top seed for districts and get to end the season against a really good team in Pagosa Springs.”
The Bobcats will travel to Pagosa Springs, the third-ranked team in the latest CHSAA 3A poll, at 5 p.m. Friday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
